Language for specific purposes (LSP) is designed to help learners understand and use language specific to a certain field or occupation. Meaningful and authentic interaction between and among students using the target language is necessary for students to become proficient in using that language for communicating in business or field-specific areas. For meaningful communication to occur, students must be able to interact successfully in all four language domains. Interactive, Peer-to-peer Oral Techniques (IPOTs) provide a vehicle for that interaction. As students gain confidence in their ability to engage in authentic field-specific conversations with classmates, confidence is built for engaging native speakers in such conversations. This article profiles several IPOTs that can help instructors implement effective strategies to promote interaction: turn and tell (for verbalizing newly-acquired knowledge through periodic partner summaries), gap-filling tango (for completing a gap-filling exercise with vocabulary in the specific discipline), parallel lines (for sharing and/or collecting discipline-specific information with classmates), carousel charts (for activating prior knowledge about the content), roaming reporters (for acting as reporters to collect information being studied), and hot onion review (usually for revisiting content information).

This article is part of the anthology of Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes

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